Independent People [NOOK Book]

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Overview

In an epic set in Iceland in the early twentieth century, Gudbjartur Jonsson buys his own croft after eighteen years of service to the local bailiff, and brings his wife and his small flock of sheep there to build a new, independent life for himself.
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Overview

In an epic set in Iceland in the early twentieth century, Gudbjartur Jonsson buys his own croft after eighteen years of service to the local bailiff, and brings his wife and his small flock of sheep there to build a new, independent life for himself.

Editorial Reviews

Publishers Weekly
Originally published in 1946 and out of print for decades, this book by the Nobel Prize-winning Icelandic author is a huge, skaldic treat filled with satire, humor, pathos, cold weather and sheep. Gudbjartur Jonsson becomes Bjartur of Summerhouses when, after 18 years of service to the Bailiff of Myri, he is able to buy his own croft. Summerhouses is probably haunted and is certainly unprepossessing, but Bjartur is a stubborn, leathery old (whatever his age) coot, and he soon has his new bride and few head of sheep installed in a sod house. When his wife dies cold and alone giving birth to the daughter of the Bailiff's son, Bjartur takes the child on almost as another test of his independence. Bjartur survives another wife, three sons that lived and several dead ones, all with his "armour of scepticism," which "endowed him with greater moral fortitude than that possessed by the other men." Through hard times (in the guises of worms and a cow that threaten his precious sheep), Bjartur maintains his ferocious and self-destructive independence, one aimed not so much at bettering his condition as being able to tell his former employer where to get off. Laxness is merciless with the hypocrisy of the upper classes, as exemplified by the Bailiff's poetess wife, who applauds the simple life of poor country people, or the Bailiff's son, whose social-welfare schemes help him but undermine the crofters. Laxness is not easy on Bjartur, who is bloody-minded in the extreme, but he is tender enough to compose a poem to his exiled adoptive daughter, and bold enough to engrave a simple marker in honor of the misunderstood ghoul who has haunted his farm and family. He's a figure that Snorri Sturluson would have recognized.
More Reviews (1) Fewer Reviews
From The Critics
Originally published in 1946 and out of print for decades, this book by the Nobel Prize-winning Icelandic author is a huge, skaldic treat filled with satire, humor, pathos, cold weather and sheep. Gudbjartur Jonsson becomes Bjartur of Summerhouses when, after 18 years of service to the Bailiff of Myri, he is able to buy his own croft. Summerhouses is probably haunted and is certainly unprepossessing, but Bjartur is a stubborn, leathery old (whatever his age) coot, and he soon has his new bride and few head of sheep installed in a sod house. When his wife dies cold and alone giving birth to the daughter of the Bailiff's son, Bjartur takes the child on almost as another test of his independence. Bjartur survives another wife, three sons that lived and several dead ones, all with his "armour of scepticism," which "endowed him with greater moral fortitude than that possessed by the other men." Through hard times (in the guises of worms and a cow that threaten his precious sheep), Bjartur maintains his ferocious and self-destructive independence, one aimed not so much at bettering his condition as being able to tell his former employer where to get off. Laxness is merciless with the hypocrisy of the upper classes, as exemplified by the Bailiff's poetess wife, who applauds the simple life of poor country people, or the Bailiff's son, whose social-welfare schemes help him but undermine the crofters. Laxness is not easy on Bjartur, who is bloody-minded in the extreme, but he is tender enough to compose a poem to his exiled adoptive daughter, and bold enough to engrave a simple marker in honor of the misunderstood ghoul who has haunted his farm and family. He's a figure that Snorri Sturluson would have recognized. (Jan.)

Product Details

  • ISBN-13: 9780307486264
  • Publisher: Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group
  • Publication date: 2/19/2009
  • Sold by: Random House
  • Format: eBook
  • Pages: 512
  • Sales rank: 162,934
  • Series: Vintage International
  • File size: 2 MB
  • Items ship to U.S, APO/FPO and U.S. Protectorate addresses.

Introduction

Independent People is a pointedly timeless tale. It reminds us that life on an Icelandic croft had scarcely altered over a millenium; the seasons shifted, but the overall pattern of want and hardship and stoicism endured. Midway through the novel, however, off at an unimaginable distance, something called the Great War erupts. Normally, there would be nothing noteworthy in this (on the Continent, people were forever "hacking one another to pieces like suet in a trough"), but this time the conflict lifts to unprecedented heights the prices for Icelandic mutton and wool. Even the poorest of farmers begin dreaming of an emancipation from their tight, tethered poverty.
Customer Reviews
Average Rating 4.5
( 16 )

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  • Posted September 26, 2009

    more from this reviewer

    Great read

    read it over summer vacation, very enjoyable

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  • Anonymous

    Posted July 18, 2009

    I Also Recommend:

    A different read from a differnt location.

    I read this on a recent trip to Iceland. Halldor Laxness is an Icelandic writer who uses the Icelandic people and geography to write about human nature. This book paints a picture of Bjartur who struggles alone and strives to be totally independent of others... it is a sad but from my perspective a true commentary of so many people who choose to be alone and try to be self reliant to an extreme. It gives an excellent image of the hardships that people face in that geographic setting at the beginning of the 20th Century.

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  • Posted June 29, 2009

    Prescient storytelling?

    I found this book while looking for stories about Iceland before I travel there. I am glad to have read it and found this epic tale of Bjatur ironic, funny, frustrating but never boring. Mr Laxness has written a story set in the early 20th century, that as far as I can tell, is nearly a commentary on our present world political, social, and economical situation. Will humans ever learn from the past? Great reading, though the writing style was sometimes a little heavy for my taste, I still recommend it.

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  • Anonymous

    Posted January 20, 2003

    Worth a Nobel Prize in Literature

    This book was almost in 'real time' as far as Icelandic epics go. As a real lover of Laxness, this book was well worth every moment spent under the sheets, amidst a cold winter chill. Read it and travel there (or vise versa.)

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  • Anonymous

    Posted September 18, 2001

    Icelandic Stone

    The main character, Bjartur, is much like the country--weathered and untamed. He fights and endures hardships that steels his heart and builds fortitude to endure. A hint of steely humanism slips out through the years toward his daughter. The book can be tedious at times, but worth reading. Laxness focus on Bjartur's character allowed detailing of the Icelandic culture and the sparce living based on the long-time struggles between the classes.

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